I liked this episode. My only gripe is that I didn't like the CG animation on the timber wolves. It just seemed out of place.

I would love to see RD's novel. I imagine it would be a change of pace from Daring Do fan fics.

I rather liked the Timberwolves and the CGI looked fine to me for at animated TV show. I'm sure we are going to see a ton of different renditions of that novel for sure. Also one thing that nobody pointed out was AJ being trapped by the rock when the massive Timber Wolf showed up making no real sense as she should have been able to get her leg out; some one on 4chan pointed out that its likely she faked being trapped so Spike could save her basically doing the original plan but with an actual wolf.

That is actually basically what I assumed was the case; either that or as someone else in the same topic pointed out it could have been that the rock was actually meant to be much bigger but the storyboard artists and/or the animators just screwed up the size of the one covering her leg. Either explanation works really.

Also I really liked the regeneration for the Timberwolves that was a neat thing to do with them and can make them rather useful for Action Adventure Fanfics.

When I was learning CG, I focused almost entirely on cel-shaded stuff like this.There's no way you could pull this stuff off without CG. All the turning and exploding into a million pieces couldn't be handled in Flash.They made a smart move omitting the CG shadows. It's a dead giveaway for CG. They could've toned down the lines a bit; not using black lines and thinning them down around small details like the teeth.The motion could've also been roughed up a bit. CG defaults to perfectly smooth movement and tends to jar with more traditional animation that starts out rough and smooths out with work.All in all, though, I thought it looked great and blended quite well.

_________________"Why would you ever want to connect the dots?"

Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:33 pm

Radio Blue Heart

Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:27 pmPosts: 2642Location: North Carolina

Re: My Little Pony

angelusbr Wrote:

An artwork of what the episode could have been

This brings up an interesting point. What if the opposite effect happened. What if Spike really starts turning things around and turned Sweet Apple Acres into an even greater success. The drama could come from trying to convince him that Twilight needs him more as her assistant than Applejack does.

Or they could have done a better job of abusing him and embarrassing him!

_________________"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."-Virgil

Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:56 pm

Penwrite

Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:03 amPosts: 3407Location: Canterlot

Re: My Little Pony

I saw that one promo clip from the episode. Anyone saying those Timberwolves couldn't have been done in Flash has obviously never seen Wakfu.

Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:28 pm

Radio Blue Heart

Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:27 pmPosts: 2642Location: North Carolina

Re: My Little Pony

They already already rendered them in flash once. They appear in the "Family Appreciation Day" episode menacing a young Granny Smith.

_________________"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."-Virgil

I saw that one promo clip from the episode. Anyone saying those Timberwolves couldn't have been done in Flash has obviously never seen Wakfu.

Radio Blue Heart Wrote:

They already already rendered them in flash once. They appear in the "Family Appreciation Day" episode menacing a young Granny Smith.

The guy was specifically referring to the numerous bits where the Timberwolves explode into a million pieces. The creatures themselves can be rendered easily enough in Flash, but the action of exploding into numerous pieces would be a far more intensive project.

Guys, I found one of the 1980's MLP books at the bookstore I worked at during break. It was one of the same ones from my childhood. <3 I think it's taking a nap in the trunk of my vehicle, so this gives me the perfect excuse to clean out my car tomorrow!

_________________Let me tell you about Homestuck.

Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:34 pm

Sleet

Bringing Foxy Back

Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:32 amPosts: 16609Location: Nephelokokkygia

Re: My Little Pony

I really liked some of the gags in this episode, such as Spike actually counting the blades of grass and making Rainbow Dash fly into rocks. The timberwolves were also awesomely-designed creatures that I really like. And giving Rainbow Dash more characterization by having her trying to write a novel (albeit a pretty poorly-conceived one) is cute.

I didn't like how overly incompetent Spike was at a lot of stuff, as well as the scene of Spike's to-do list. It's like they decided to make Spike intentionally gross or something. Considering they're trying to fight gender stereotypes a bit with this show, you'd think they would be hesitant to do that to the only major male character on the show, considering how little girls often view boys.

Beagle Wrote:

Guys, I found one of the 1980's MLP books at the bookstore I worked at during break. It was one of the same ones from my childhood. <3 I think it's taking a nap in the trunk of my vehicle, so this gives me the perfect excuse to clean out my car tomorrow!

I really liked some of the gags in this episode, such as Spike actually counting the blades of grass and making Rainbow Dash fly into rocks. The timberwolves were also awesomely-designed creatures that I really like. And giving Rainbow Dash more characterization by having her trying to write a novel (albeit a pretty poorly-conceived one) is cute.

I didn't like how overly incompetent Spike was at a lot of stuff, as well as the scene of Spike's to-do list. It's like they decided to make Spike intentionally gross or something. Considering they're trying to fight gender stereotypes a bit with this show, you'd think they would be hesitant to do that to the only major male character on the show, considering how little girls often view boys.

Agreed.

Seriously. The opening scene with Spike's to-do list was just... weird. Like, really, REALLY weird. So Spike has a short list of things he wanted to do once he had some free time. Fine and dandy. But to have the third and final item be to sniff his own self-proclaimed "dirty feet"? Just... why? Who does that?

He's a little kid. Kids do some gross stuff. Don't read so much into it.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:05 pm

IceKitsune

Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:35 pmPosts: 4530Location: Ohio

Re: My Little Pony

Foxstar Wrote:

He's a little kid. Kids do some gross stuff. Don't read so much into it.

I agree with Foxstar here little kids do the stupidest stuff some times, nothing out of character there.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:46 pm

Beagle

Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:09 pmPosts: 1639Location: North Carolina

Re: My Little Pony

Sleet Wrote:

Beagle Wrote:

Guys, I found one of the 1980's MLP books at the bookstore I worked at during break. It was one of the same ones from my childhood. <3 I think it's taking a nap in the trunk of my vehicle, so this gives me the perfect excuse to clean out my car tomorrow!

Aww. :3 They sold those?

It's a used bookstore.

Aaaaaaand I lost the freaking book. Great.

_________________Let me tell you about Homestuck.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:20 pm

IceKitsune

Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:35 pmPosts: 4530Location: Ohio

Re: My Little Pony

Well the next Spike Episode is being written by Corey Powell according to Meghan McCarthy's Twitter. https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/285811187881496577 He wrote Sleepless in Ponyville which I thought was a great episode so hopefully he can keep it up for his second outing. Also on her twitter she said Larson has the last episode. You know I have to admit, this is the first show where I actually cared or even looked at who was writing episodes.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:40 pm

angelusbr

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:26 amPosts: 1754

Re: My Little Pony

Foxstar Wrote:

He's a little kid. Kids do some gross stuff. Don't read so much into it.

Except that was the first time Spike was show to be extremelly annoying and not to mention VERY incompetent. And no, you can't throthe card "he's a kid thus he's an useless". He was shown in many previous episodes to know what he's doing. One can say that cooking is different form baking (I don't know the difference myself, but I'll believe there's a difference since I know nothing about cullinary), how did he manage to turn the ENTIRE kitchen into a nightmare?Not to mention Spike was saved by pretty much EVERY characterin the series by now and that was the first time he came up with that code thing (and we have to believe that dracon code is legit and not something made up by Spike since Twilight knew about it).Also if Spike acted like that around Twlight it would be impossible to mantain him as an assistant since he would turn everything near twilight upside down.

He's a little kid. Kids do some gross stuff. Don't read so much into it.

Except that was the first time Spike was show to be extremelly annoying and not to mention VERY incompetent. And no, you can't throthe card "he's a kid thus he's an useless". He was shown in many previous episodes to know what he's doing. One can say that cooking is different form baking (I don't know the difference myself, but I'll believe there's a difference since I know nothing about cullinary), how did he manage to turn the ENTIRE kitchen into a nightmare?Not to mention Spike was saved by pretty much EVERY characterin the series by now and that was the first time he came up with that code thing (and we have to believe that dracon code is legit and not something made up by Spike since Twilight knew about it).Also if Spike acted like that around Twlight it would be impossible to mantain him as an assistant since he would turn everything near twilight upside down.

I'm pretty sure Foxstar was only talking about Spikes list of what he wanted to do. (ie. the whole feet sniffing thing in particular) Him being unable to clean up stuff and being incompetent in general is another story and that was just plain bad writing and is a case of Merriwether Williams writing the character to fit the plot rather then the other way around like is suppose to happen which IMO is really her only problem.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:55 pm

Sleet

Bringing Foxy Back

Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:32 amPosts: 16609Location: Nephelokokkygia

Re: My Little Pony

Do gross things? Sure. Do gross things because they don't see them as gross? Sure. Go out of the way specifically because they're gross? Not frequently.

Except that was the first time Spike was show to be extremelly annoying and not to mention VERY incompetent. And no, you can't throthe card "he's a kid thus he's an useless". He was shown in many previous episodes to know what he's doing. One can say that cooking is different form baking (I don't know the difference myself, but I'll believe there's a difference since I know nothing about cullinary), how did he manage to turn the ENTIRE kitchen into a nightmare?Not to mention Spike was saved by pretty much EVERY characterin the series by now and that was the first time he came up with that code thing (and we have to believe that dracon code is legit and not something made up by Spike since Twilight knew about it).Also if Spike acted like that around Twlight it would be impossible to mantain him as an assistant since he would turn everything near twilight upside down.

the difference between cooking and baking is that baking is an exact science. you need to get the amounts of everything exactly right or it won't bake right. Maybe spike messed something up in the ingredients that made it bake faster, so the pie burned before the time it was supposed to be done.

as for the dragon code, maybe Spike told Twilight about the code and that's how she knows. as I said, he specifically called it "the Spike the Dragon Code" not just "the Dragon Code". but it is true that his incompetence was out of character. I'm sure the target demographic won't notice so it isn't as bad as with shows aimed at older people, but it still makes this a weaker episode.

_________________I'm a shape-shifter. I'm currently in whatever form I feel likeParadigm Shift by meI do not actually believe any of what I'm saying.RP character sheets

Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:23 pm

Foxstar

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:00 amPosts: 1689

Re: My Little Pony

angelusbr Wrote:

Foxstar Wrote:

He's a little kid. Kids do some gross stuff. Don't read so much into it.

Except that was the first time Spike was show to be extremelly annoying and not to mention VERY incompetent. And no, you can't throthe card "he's a kid thus he's an useless". He was shown in many previous episodes to know what he's doing. One can say that cooking is different form baking (I don't know the difference myself, but I'll believe there's a difference since I know nothing about cullinary), how did he manage to turn the ENTIRE kitchen into a nightmare?Not to mention Spike was saved by pretty much EVERY characterin the series by now and that was the first time he came up with that code thing (and we have to believe that dracon code is legit and not something made up by Spike since Twilight knew about it).Also if Spike acted like that around Twlight it would be impossible to mantain him as an assistant since he would turn everything near twilight upside down.

Rule of funny applies. The "I owe you my life so I'm going to serve you, but I make so much of a mess out of stuff that you will wish I wasn't" is a infamous trope that has shown up in shows for years. Plus Spike was really, really eager to help Applejack and being in a rush to prove yourself can result in stuff happening. When he calmed down however, he was able to do two impressive tasks really well, but by that time Applejack was sick of him.

Also this is the first time that he's been 'saved' by someone from meeting the other dragons, I'm pretty sure. Sure they could have used a moment or two to explain just why he had a code now, but I view this as a cartoon, not War and Peace. They aren't always going to tell us why stuff happens. If you remember, people had just as much of a fit when Twilight announced she had a brother out of nowhere. They don't always have the time or the will to always refer or create a 'here this is why' Even toons for older people fail to explain things at times and given the focused age group, I think they do just fine.

Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:32 pm

Penwrite

Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:03 amPosts: 3407Location: Canterlot

Re: My Little Pony

So, the season finale's just gonna be one episode. Thoughts, people?

Mon Dec 31, 2012 5:38 pm

IceKitsune

Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:35 pmPosts: 4530Location: Ohio

Re: My Little Pony

Penwrite Wrote:

So, the season finale's just gonna be one episode. Thoughts, people?

Its being written by Larson hes done good stuff so I'm not worried story wise. If it is just one episode that means its going to be really packed full of stuff for sure. Also there is very likely to be no villain for the episode which is fine as its likely to be all about Twilight and her next stage of training. Also there is some speculation that it might be a cliffhanger and be picked up in the season 4 opener. Which I think would be awesome has heck even if its utterly unlikely.

The S1 finale was a single episode, and that turned out just fine, so I'm not worried. It just means that, like Ice mentioned, there likely won't be a villain of any description, and it's not going to be as large of a plot as the last few finales/openers. Which I'm fine with. Because the last few storylines, even given an extra episode, ended up being incredibly rushed towards the ends.

If it means a more nicely paced finale, I'm perfectly cool with them leaving the huge, epic stories of fighting off the big baddies out of it.

On another note, sigh... I feel terrible. I can't get any inspiration for the next chapter of my MLP/Avengers fic. I've barely gotten in 100 words a day for the last week or so. And when I do force myself to write, I don't know, none of it feels up to par with the last few chapters. Blargh.

Anyone have any good fics to suggest? I literally haven't read any fan fiction in months.

Sweetie Belle is grown up and is leaving Ponyville for the first time to go to collage. Only, she finds that her room mate is someone that she doesn't quiet get along with...

The story is great, the writing is pretty good, and it's still updating. I don't know if that's the kind you're looking for or not, but I've been following it long enough that I don't think the writer is going to drop it. Just takes a while between updates sometimes.

An Octavia and Vinyl fic. I found the story to be enjoyable, even if it is a little predictable at times. The writing is alright. Defiantly readable, just sometimes a section or two will come up that could have been written a little better. A few moments that push PG-13, but nothing too bad. This one has finished so if you don't want to wait for anything, that's good.

The Secret Case Book of Sherlock Holmes This is a rather interesting read so far and it emulates Doyle's writing rather well. It takes till near the end of the second chapter to get to the MLP side of things completely but the chapters are rather short so you don't have to wait long.

Also, I totally approve of your bag, Brent. I was actually pretty close to ordering some pins like that for Christmas, but then I realized that I really don't have anything to put them on. :B So I settled for an awesome Twilight keychain instead.

also, this is just a corner of it. the rest of the front has Doctor Who pins and one Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter pin (which I bought when I needed something cheap to make a $28 purchase into a $30 purchase so I could use a coupon thingy to make it a $15 purchase)

_________________I'm a shape-shifter. I'm currently in whatever form I feel likeParadigm Shift by meI do not actually believe any of what I'm saying.RP character sheets

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